Every time we think the fast food industry has outdone itself, one of them steps up to prove that their work is never done. This morning 800 Taco Bells started serving breakfast. In case your 2am Gordita Crunch Burrito Bowl Nachos weren’t enough, you can now swing through the Mexican-inspired drive-through and grab breakfast.

The roll out is a test to see if the new breakfast burritos can hold their own on a menu littered with greasy, processed tacos, nachos, and burritos. If all goes according to the Yum Brands restaurant plans, you’ll be able to run to the border for breakfast in all locations by 2014.

We’ll grant that there aren’t any off-the-wall breakfast recipes being served at Taco Bell; nothing any different than any other fast food restaurant. “Their menu is what NOT to have,” says our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, RD. The menu includes egg burritos with sausage, bacon, or steak. Hash browns, Cinnabon, hot or iced coffee, and orange juice will also be available.

She argues there isn’t an ounce of nutritional value in anything on their menu. “There is too much protein, no fibrous cereal, no fresh or dried fruit, no milk or yogurt, no nuts or seeds; the hash browns are greasy (but Yum doesn’t use Phase.) If you love this food, then save it for a rare occasion; if you don’t love it, then skip it.”
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Since Biggest Loser season six we’ve seen Biggest Loser contestants wearing a gadget on their forearms. It was a BodyBugg, and it tracked their calorie burn against their calorie consumption and helped them know precisely what they needed to do to meet their daily goals.

Look for a new gadget this season, the Biggest Loser SlimCoach from MyTrak. It’s far more simple and you can even be a bit more reactive to your progress during the day. Clip it on your clothes and it will track your movements in real time! It syncs with an online database that lets you see long-term progress to goal, which you set when you start your SlimCoach.

Want to know how you’re doing after breakfast, after lunch, or before bed? Simply press the “health circle” in the center of the SlimCoach and it will light up. A fully green circle means you met your daily goal; any percentage of red shows you there’s still work to do.
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You’ve seen online diets before, but have you seen one on Facebook? The social network is quickly becoming the hub for people’s social lives, so why wouldn’t you make it the point of entry for your weight loss program? That is exactly what Dawn Jackson Blatner has done in partnership with Florida Grapefruit. They’re calling it the Grapefruit Active Lifestyle Meal Plan and, as you can probably guess, the diet centers around grapefruits, be it whole fruit or 100% juice.

By visiting their page at Facebook.com/JuicyScoop you can download a free eBook, a 62-page PDF that outlines the program with daily meal plans, tips and recipes. Blatner, a registered dietitian and certified specialist in sports dietetics, has organized a balanced, healthful eating plan that will lend followers about 1600 calories each day. There are three meal plans to choose from:

• Standard with dairy, meat, fish, and eggs
• Vegetarian with dairy and eggs
• Vegan with no animal by-products

We spoke with Blatner about the new program, which she said is plant-based with the option for chicken or steak (this is fitting as she is the author of The Flexitarian Diet). As for building a weight loss plan around the grapefruit, she says the fruit has “a bold, invigorating flavor… that provides natural energy.” It can be an acquired taste for some, but Blatner says they’ve incorporated the flavor subtly and won’t often have you eating it straight from the peel.

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A few years ago my husband worked for a large aircraft manufacturer. At the start of a new year, each employee was made to get a full physical to create a baseline for their health. At the same time the next year, each employee would have to do it again, and if they’d improved or at least maintained their insurance premiums would be reduced. This seemed like a no-brainer because he’s not overweight, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t have any diseases or risk factors for things like diabetes or high blood pressure. Throughout the year the company supported everyone’s efforts by sending a package once a month with a variety of things like a cutting board encouraging us to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, floss to maintain dental hygeine, and a book called The Culprit and the Cure.

The following year we got our insurance discount. I’m certain many others did, but also certain many did not. At the time, I couldn’t help but wonder — do companies have a right to do this?

“I absolutely think they do,” Dr. Pamela Peeke told me. She cited the interconnectedness of an employee’s health and a company’s bottom line, which can ultimately impact the local economy. “The only way to implement a corporate wellness program is also to provide ways for people to get off the ‘stuff.’ They need counseling, guidance, and discounts.” By stuff she means cigarettes, unhealthy eating habits, alcohol, or anything else that creates a barrier between staff and a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Peeke and I spoke last week about the rising need for and popularity of corporate wellness programs. Dr. Peeke has an impressive resume that includes the Chief Medical Correspondent for Discovery Health, author of Fight Fat After Forty, and the founder of the The Peeke Performance Center for Healthy Living.

“It is absolutely growing,” Dr. Peeke said about the rise of corporate wellness programs. “There’s no question. People have no choice now.” She cited that for every one dollar a business spends on wellness for its employees, they get five dollars back in the way of productivity and less absenteeism. As well, costly insurance premiums are reduced when they aren’t carrying the burden of unhealthy employees. To companies that still balk at the idea of the added work or expense of a program, Dr. Peeke says, “For crying out loud, we’re investing in the health of these people.”
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If Alessandra Ambrosio‘s baby bump is five months along, then she was barely in her second trimester when she did the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in November. It may have been the biggest secret of the night, as Ambrosio admits she told no one about her second pregnancy. The supermodel showed off her new bump while modeling this past weekend in San Paulo, Brazil.

We praised her pre-runway diet as she prepared for the lingerie brand’s annual televised fashion show. She doesn’t skip meals, indulges her cravings sometimes, and gets plenty of exercise. All of this is advisable for any woman, but these habits get top marks for a pregnant woman.

During her first pregnancy, with now 3-year-old daughter Anja, she apparently allowed herself to indulge quite a bit. Her trainer Leandro Carvalho said, at the time, that Ambrosio “had to pay the price” after enjoying too much Brazilian food and ice cream. She was ready for the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show just three months after giving birth. How so? She used Carvalho’s Brazilian Buttlift workout, a fitness DVD program you can do at home that uses techniques like squats, lunges, ballet and the Brazilian fighting style capoeira.
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